The present invention relates to electronic messaging in general and to the selective sorting and forwarding of electronic mail and other data.
Many computer users face the problem of receiving numerous electronic mail (e-mail) messages each day. These electronic messages may be sent by co-workers, such as on networked computer systems used in business, government, and many universities. Additionally, computer users may also receive messages via the internet from friends, colleagues, or clients. It is not uncommon for many computer users to receive twenty-to-thirty e-mail messages each day.
Some computer users also face the additional problem that they may receive numerous electronic messages containing information acquired from the world wide web. There are a variety of programming methods that facilitate a transfer of information from the world wide web to a user""s computer in the form of an electronic message. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,186 discloses a system and method for providing a dynamic clipping service in which the user creates a template of topics of interest that are transmitted to a central site for processing in order to acquire articles of interest to the user from the world wide web. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,662 discloses a personalized information retrieval system for retrieving information from web sites based upon a user-defined profile. Consequently, computer users may regularly receive numerous electronic messages from dynamic clipping services or commercial information providers.
Both the quantity and quality of information available from the world wide web is steadily increasing. Many corporations have web sites that contain information useful to financial analysts. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, one of the numerous web-sites of Fujitsu, Ltd., contains information on the financial performance of Fujitsu, Ltd. Other Fujitsu web-sites contain information on new Fujitsu products and services. There are an increasing number of web-sites for both private corporations and government agencies that provide many types of data. For example, there are numerous web-sites devoted to financial information and the analysis of various stocks. There are also numerous news sites, many of which include transcripts of news stories. From such web-sites, information on the Dow Jones industrial average and news stories on the performance of individual companies can be obtained. Some of these web-sites are updated only once a day. However, many financial web-sites and news web-sites are updated several times per day. Thus, while a custom newspaper (e.g., a collection of articles in areas of interest to the user) may be acquired only once a day, it may also be acquired much more frequently (e.g., several times per day) to satisfy the demands of users who require continual updating of volatile information, such as financial information.
The electronic xe2x80x9cin-boxxe2x80x9d of many computer users may be filled each day with dozens of e-mail messages and/or documents acquired from the world wide web. It can be time consuming to sort through a plurality of incoming e-mail messages and web documents each day. Application programs to filter out so-called xe2x80x9cjunk e-mailxe2x80x9d can help, somewhat, to reduce this burden. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,354 discloses a method for sorting and prioritizing e-mail messages based upon a rules-test unit incorporating user defined rules. Similarly, systems to sort incoming electronic mail, such as sorting incoming e-mail documents into different folders based upon characteristics of the message, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,108.
A major shortcoming of conventional electronic mail systems is that they do not adequately address the problems that users have when sickness, business travel, or personal vacations requires them to be away from their computer. For example, a computer user who receives, on average, twenty e-mail messages a day may return from a two-week vacation with two-hundred e-mail messages in her e-mail mailbox. If any of the messages are time-sensitive, the results can be catastrophic. For example, an investment banker receiving an e-mail message from a colleague that: xe2x80x9cACME, Inc.""s new products are selling well in the Atlanta test-marketxe2x80x9d may want to be informed immediately in regards to making decisions about providing venture financing for the expansion of ACME, Inc. Similarly, a stock broker who regularly receives news from an electronic clipping service may want to be immediately alerted if, for example, the clipping service acquires a news article, xe2x80x9cACME, Inc., revealed today the successful test-marketing of a new product in Atlanta and announced that it had obtained financing to expand its production in anticipation of nationwide distribution.xe2x80x9d
Many of the same problems apply during evenings and weekends. The stock broker away for a weekend skiing may want to know, well ahead of the opening of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, the contents of urgent e-mail messages warning of financial unrest in overseas markets. Similarly, a corporate manager may want to know the contents of urgent e-mail messages received during evening hours, such as e-mail messages or web-documents describing an upcoming labor strike.
Computer users who are concerned that they may not receive time-sensitive e-mail messages or web documents while they are away form the office have few options. They can, of course, bring portable computers and modems with them in order to access their computer via a phone-link while they are away from their main computer. However, many portable computers are comparatively bulky. Even a notebook computer that weighs two pounds may be inconvenient to bring along while on vacation. Additionally, a portable computer can be expensive, and is also relatively fragile.
Another drawback of bringing a portable computer to access accumulated electronic messages is that the user must remember to periodically link their computer via a phone connection. Moreover, some types of information, such as stock prices, are so volatile that it may be impractical for a user away from their office to examine their electronic in-box frequently enough to be of much use. For example, a stock broker taking a day-off may find it burdensome to bring their portable computer and to make a phone-link on a frequent enough basis (e.g., every hour) in order to track the progress of a volatile stock that she wishes to sell.
Unfortunately, conventional methods to manage incoming e-mail messages and web-documents do not address the needs of computer users who are away from their computers yet may receive time-sensitive materials. Although this is an especially severe problem for computer users who are away on extended business trips or vacation, it can also be a problem for users who are away from their computer for much shorter periods, such as during evenings and weekends. Moreover, this problem will become worse as more business interactions are conducted by electronic mail and with businesses located in different time zones. Additionally, the increasing quantity of information available from the world wide web coupled with custom news clipping applications will soon permit users to receive the equivalent of dozens of customized newspapers each day from the world wide web. Although existing electronic message handling systems may be programmed to automatically forward all electronic messages to other e-mail addresses, computer users do not have the ability to selectively forward electronic messages in flexible, convenient ways that will significantly increase their productivity or increase the enjoyment of their leisure time.
What is desired is an electronic message management system and method to automatically sort and forward incoming electronic messages and documents.
The present invention generally addresses the problem of sorting and forwarding electronic messages and other data, such as e-mail messages, sent between computer users. The information forwarding system of the present invention automatically forwards electronic messages to e-mail address destinations and non e-mail destinations. The inventive system includes a filter that may be programmed using user-defined criteria to select messages to be forwarded; a router that may be programmed with forwarding information; and a form converter to convert filtered messages that are routed to the converter into a form suitable for the receiving device to which the data is forwarded. A plurality of filters, routers, and form converters may preferably be used together to perform a classification, channel selection, and a channel output control function. In a preferred embodiment, documents acquired by a programmable information collector from a world wide web or local server may also be forwarded.
One object of the present invention is realized by a message forwarding system that permits a user to forward filtered messages to a variety of different reception devices, such as e-mail, phone, facsimile, and pager receiving devices.
Another object of the present invention is realized by a message forwarding system that permits a user to select a plurality of filtering and routing criteria to perform a classification function whereby different types of messages are forwarded to different receiving nodes.
Still another object of the present invention is realized by a message forwarding system designed to work together with a programmable message collector to forward documents acquired from the world wide web or a local server.